Fwd: AAA at documenta fifteen | Translations, Expansions

[Olivier Krischer]

For a better viewing experience, view this in your browser. 中 EXHIBITION Translations, Expansions 18 Jun–25 Sep 2022, documenta fifteen, Kassel Image: On-Anong Glinsiri, Togetherness & The Way We Were (Preparation), 2008. Photo: Varsha Nair. Womanifesto Archive, AAA Collections. Courtesy of Womanifesto. AAA is participating in documenta fifteen, initiated by Jakarta-based collective ruangrupa. It is organised around the concept of lumbung (“rice barn”), which refers to communal buildings in rural Indonesia where the harvest is stored and distributed to the community. Collectivity and resource distribution constitute the main values and principles for the structure and working methods. As part of a group of collectives and organisations working on education and archiving in an expanded sense, AAA’s contribution to documenta fifteen is a display that foregrounds the active role artists themselves have played in preserving and mediating knowledge about art. Located in the Fridericianum—one of the first public museums in the world and one of the main venues of documenta fifteen—Translations, Expansions presents artworks and archival materials about collective undertakings by artists who learn from vernacular cultural practices across Asia. These collective undertakings include the artists connected to the Baroda Faculty of Fine Arts, who participated in the Living Traditions movement in post-independent India; Womanifesto, a feminist art collective and a biennial programme in Thailand most active from 1997 to 2005; and the network of performance art festivals that blossomed across East and Southeast Asia starting in the 1990s, as documented by Ray Langenbach, Lee Wen, and others. These instances have inspired and informed AAA’s own understanding of archives as sites for knowledge-sharing and artistic production. Public Talks Keleketla! Library, The Black Archives, and Asia Art Archive Sun, Jun 19, 4–6pm CET Fridskul Common Library, Fridericianum, documenta fifteen, Kassel Image: The Black Archives, collection of over 10,000 books and documents on colonialism, slavery, liberation, and emancipation, Amsterdam, 2020. Courtesy of The Black Archives. This event brings together Keleketla! Library in Johannesburg, The Black Archives Amsterdam, and AAA to discuss how to challenge and redefine the infrastructures of libraries and archives to accommodate multiple stories and communities. The conversation will also invite other lumbung artists and Fridskul members to share their practices, urgencies, and stories. Art Schools of Asia: Salima Hashmi and Zheng Shengtian Tue, Jun 21, 5:30–7:00pm CET Fridskul Common Library, documenta fifteen, Kassel Image: Class of the Chinese Painting Department at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou in the 1980s. Zheng Shengtian Archive, AAA Collections. Courtesy of the artist. Part of the Art Schools of Asia programme, this conversation brings together Salima Hashmi and Zheng Shengtian, two artists who have been mentors to generations of artists since the 1960s. The two will share their experiences at the National College of Arts, Lahore (Hashmi), and the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou (Zheng), and discuss the intersection of learning and art-making in their practices. In a workshop to be held separately with members of the Art Schools of Asia programme, they will also explore how art pedagogy has enabled not just self-development but also collective identity across the region. Artist-led Models of Resource Sharing Tue, 19 Jul, 1–3pm CET / 7–9pm HKT Gudskul at Fridericianum, documenta fifteen, Kassel & livestreamed on Zoom Image: Project Diners at Kwok-hin Tang’s house before being named "1983" in 2017. Courtesy of 1983. Co-presented with Goethe-Institut Hongkong and Gudskul, this event brings together Hong Kong–based artists May Fung and Tang Kwok Hin with Gudskul and ruangrupa to discuss artist-led models of resource sharing, with a focus on spaces in Hong Kong and Indonesia. This conversation explores Fung’s experience running the Foo Tak Building in Hong Kong, where artists and collectives with similar urgencies share spaces and resources; Tang’s 1983, a gathering place for artists and thinkers, transformed from his ancestral home in an 800-year-old village; and the space-sharing models Gudskul and ruangrupa have developed in Jakarta. The livestreamed programme is free and open to the public with registration on Asia Art Archive's website. Please click here for programme details and registration. Screenings and Hangout: Film-Shop, The Black Archives, and Asia Art Archive Sat, 23 Jul, 3–9PM CET Film-Shop, Kassel Image: Randfilm & Film-Shop Kassel, 2017. Courtesy of Film-Shop. Join us for an afternoon of film screenings and an informal gathering at Film-Shop Kassel—a film archive, community centre, and the world’s oldest video rental store. Co-organised by Film-Shop/Randfilm in Kassel, The Black Archives in Amsterdam, and AAA, this day is dedicated to films and stories about solidarity, community-building, and Black and Asian heritage. — Translations, Expansions features materials from the archives of Jyoti Bhatt, Ray Langenbach, Lee Wen, Nilima Sheikh, and Womanifesto; and loans from the Department of Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University of Baroda, Lawan Jirasuradej, Karla Sachse, Phaptawan Suwannakudt, and Nitaya Ueareeworakul. Made possible by the kind assistance of the Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru. Members of the AAA team—consisting of artists, researchers, curators, and educators—developed the display through a series of conversations, reading groups, and creative exercises. Special thanks to the working team: Pallavi Arora, Samira Bose, Gabrielle Chan, Samantha Chao, Susanna Chung, Özge Ersoy, Christopher K. Ho, Lydia Lam, Charlotte Mui, Sneha Ragavan, John Tain, Rebecca Tso, and Debby Tsui. Thanks to Carol Choi, Leah Lam, and Chương-Đài Võ. Supported by documenta gGmbH, as well as Wendy Lee & Stephen Li, and Virginia & Wellington Yee. #GenerousArtHistories FOLLOW US: @ASIAARTARCHIVE @ASIAARTARCHIVEINAMERICA @ASIAARTARCHIVEININDIA CONTACT US: IN...@AAA.ORG.HK 11/F, HOLLYWOOD CENTRE, 233 HOLLYWOOD ROAD, SHEUNG WAN, HONG KONG EDIT INFORMATION UNSUBSCRIBE HERE